Woman rescued, dog dies from poison gas

Wednesday

Jul 17, 2013 at 12:49 PMJul 17, 2013 at 9:40 PM

By Scott. J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

A woman apparently tried to commit suicide today by mixing toilet bowl cleaner and calcium lime rust remover to create hydrogen sulfide, a lethal gas. While the vapors killed her dog, the woman was rescued by Worcester firefighters and a state hazardous materials team.

First responders were warned about the potentially deadly mix, in a note posted on the woman's bedroom door.

It read, “Caution, hydrogen sulfide.”

The incident brought a massive public safety response Wednesday morning to the apartment complex at 10 Nuttall Lane.

When police arrived around 11:30 a.m., they recognized a hazardous materials incident, and they called the Fire Department.

Six firefighters broke down the apartment's front door. Their meters detected hydrogen sulfide, and they smelled a strong odor like rotten eggs.

Firefighters backed out once they saw the note. A state hazardous materials team was called. The hazmat team entered the woman's bedroom at around 2:15 p.m.

The team found a woman in her 30s lying on her bed, unconscious but breathing. Her dog was found dead, under the bed.

Rescuers pulled the woman out, decontaminated her and rushed her by ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center — University Campus.

Shortly after 5 p.m., the tenants of 10 Nuttall Lane were allowed back into their homes.

“The chemical is gone. The chemical has now dissipated. Right now, when you go in there, you will smell, like, an egg odor,” said Derek S. Brindisi, director of the Worcester Division of Public Health. “The harmful aspect of the chemical has now dissipated but you still smell the odor. There is no more chemical left in the building. The building is now safe.”

Deputy Fire Chief Geoffrey Gardell said the hazmat team and Worcester firefighters neutralized the lethal mixture.

“We found the two products. We found the container that she mixed the two products in,” Deputy Chief Gardell said. “We neutralized that with a Speedy-Dry. Once it's neutralized, you can throw it in the dumpster. It's non-hazardous after it's neutralized.”

The woman, who has been a tenant for 16 months, mixed together the easily obtainable products. She didn't use enough to be lethal to herself under the conditions, Deputy Chief Gardell said.

Fire officials said they have heard that this type of chemical suicide has become more common, and that one set of Internet instructions even tells people to warn public safety officials with a note.

The fact that instructions to kill yourself this way can easily be found online is disturbing to fire officials.

“Unfortunately, people can find anything they want online,” Deputy Chief Gardell said. “People go on the Internet and find out how to make a substance to end their life in a not-so-dramatic manner. You can go on the Internet and find anything, and that is what this person probably did.”

Worcester firefighters saw a similar incident last year, but it didn't draw nearly as large a response as the Nuttal Lane situation Wednesday. The incident drew a slew of first responders to the quiet private street, and they closed roads in the neighborhood.

Residents were evacuated from the building. A nearby nursing home was told to shut down the air conditioning system and use portable units. People living in the neighborhood had to shut their windows.

The acrid smell of the mixture wafted in the neighborhood. Residents living in the building said they smelled something like sewage early in the morning. Many residents said the woman was quiet, had a dog, but kept to herself.

Amelia Sachetto, a trustee for the Nuttall Lane condominium building, said the odor was overwhelming.

"It was like sewage,” she said. “I was very scared. I grabbed my pocketbook and keys.”

Ms. Sachetto, 78, said she had brief exchanges with the resident she knew as Julie.

“I feel very bad for her. I don't know her,” she said, sitting in a lawn chair nearby, drinking water in the heat. “I hope she lives. It is all up to God. He's the boss.”

There have been 12 to 15 of incidents across the state of this nature, officials said. Normally people who attempt suicide this way are found in vehicles.

Craig S. Semon of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this story.

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